Day 55 - Day Trip Dingbat

Have you ever gone on a day trip and your eating habits were suddenly out of whack?

You beat yourself up over not following your regular, comfortable eating plan?

Or maybe you feel guilty for eating more than you usually do?

What makes us suddenly become a day trip dingbat?

I have the answer for you because I did it yesterday.

Father's day trip up north was spontaneous. We decided to go and were in the car and leaving within a half hour. My usual cooler full of miscellaneous goodies fell by the wayside.

I had eaten a good breakfast beforehand.

We ate when we got there, where I felt my fullness and savored just half of my meal (at 12:30).

We ended up walking around town, looking at shops and taking in the beautiful sunny day.

At 2:00 PM I was already hungry. Here is where some who have not been trained in body wisdom and awakened eating may sabotage their day. It felt like I just ate. In fact, it seemed like just minutes ago that we left the restaurant and began exploring. When I looked at the time, though, it made sense. My hunger signal was telling me that I had been walking and exerting myself for an hour and a half - and had burned up the reserves from my small lunch.

Remember, when you go on day trips or errand runs you are most likely moving around more than you usually do. Your hunger is going to be a bigger, and for good reason. 

I ate the contents of my doggie bag (a bit ravenously) as we drove to the city center to get errands done. No bottle of water. I was thirsty.

By 4:00 PM, we left the concrete jungle of consumerism and I was feeling so depleted. The walking, bending, standing, eye-to-hand coordination and mental acuity that were required to get in and out of the hell of shopping had sucked me dry.

Never underestimate the effect of stress, no matter how enjoyable or subtle it may seem, on your biological needs. Your body will need more nutrients and hydration to deal with the added energy demands.

Driving home, with another meal in hand from the local co-op, I had to reflect. How would my day have gone if I had made sure that I honored my hunger needs with the increased demands of the day? What would it have felt like to have a crisp and cold bottle of water with me throughout the events? 

Here are some pointers to prevent becoming a day trip dingbat:

• Pack snacks in a cooler, so you have bites to eat as you move around. Most people do not want to go from restaurant to snack stand every two hours (because of budget or inconvenience) so they will ignore their hunger and gorge themselves when they finally do get access. 
• If some of the following thoughts come into your mind, remind yourself of the different nature of this day, with increased energy demands, hydration (if it is summer), and stress. Think shopping in the mall is not a big deal? You may be walking an extra 2 miles that day!
• I can't be hungry already! I just ate two hours ago.
• I should not eat any snacks.
• I already ate three meals today.
• I already had my allotted calories of the day.
• I can't believe that I ate that ice cream cone. I should not eat anything else all day.
• Always bring water! Water can give you a boost of energy when what you really need is hydration, not more food. 

A day trip dingbat is someone who forgets to listen to their body the moment that they leave their routine  comfort zone. The goal with The Awake Eating Method is to awaken your body's innate wisdom so that you feel prosperous and abundant in your body, anytime and anywhere.

To day trips that leave us feeling better than we started!

Day 54 - The Obstacle Course Compound of Dieting

There are many psychological and physiological reasons why diets do not work. Today, though, I am going to bring up one of the more simple reasons.

If I were to ask you to do something that would make you dislike your life, would you do it? Maybe you would, initially, because of a promised reward but how long could you manage?

As human beings we have some primary biological motivators, one of which is avoiding pain or discomfort. This is a primal instinct, and dieting usually does not fare well with this innately wired mechanism. The discomfort that comes from consistently restraining, restricting and depriving eventually triggers are basic need to allow.

I understand that sometimes to get what we want we feel that we have to sacrifice, be uncomfortable and push through our walls. That makes sense, to a certain point. If our discomfort and wall-busting efforts lead us to an endless obstacle course we are screwed in two ways; we will never achieve our true goal AND we will quit the game feeling worse then when we began.

I see dieting as a small compound isolated on the outskirts of our world. People get sucked in after getting lost in the wilderness and end up trying to conquer each obstacle course set before them. They focus on staying within the confines of the dieting compound, out of fear for what lies beyond the boundaries.

Why Diets Make Us Hate Our Lives

• The goal with dieting is to lose weight. The obstacle course always leads us to the end. Then we have to start all over.
• If that was your true goal, than ANY diet would work (including the eat-only-twinkies diet). Most likely your true desire is to develop a healthy relationship with food and body that lasts a lifetime.
• Dieting teaches us to be afraid of food. The obstacle course gives us no tools to explore beyond the confines of the game.
• We learn that certain foods will make us fat, sick, congested, inflamed and tired. We sometimes feel more at odds with food after a diet than before. We lose the ability to find pleasure in eating.
• Dieting teaches us to not listen to our body. The obstacle course sees you as just another participant, not a unique human being.
• We have a calorie ceiling so we do not listen to our hunger. We have not eaten all day because of wacky diet rules, so we eat beyond comfortable fullness in starvation mode. We employ will power; the essence of which is to deny our desires.
• Dieting teaches us to listen to someone else. The obstacle course was made by someone else and we begin to believe that we cannot create our own path.
• We learn that a doctor, nutritionist or infomercial lad knows more than we do. We feel anxious about making food decisions without referring to them or their materials. We get confused in a world with thousands of different diets - teaching us that THEIR way is the best.
•  Dieting teaches us what to eat. The obstacle course keeps us focused on rules rather than how we truly feel.
• Every year a new food is taken off the bad list and put on the good list and vice versa. Some Nutritionist's say you should eat carbs at every meal, others say protein. Some say grains are good, others say grains are bad. This is crazy making!
• Dieting makes us feel bad about ourselves. The obstacles wear us down, and there is no time for enjoyment or play.
• Instead of approaching ourselves with compassion, curiosity and delight we learn to treat ourselves with shame when we connect follow the rules.

Just a stone throw away from the obstacle-course of dieting are thousands of acres of planet to discover, rich with pleasure, sensation and beautiful experience. Are you willing to step into it?

If you do not like your life while dieting, chances are you will not continue living it in that way. It is time to quit the dieting and emerge into the world with your happiness and pleasure intact!

To a day of free-roaming pleasure with eating!

Natalie provides local and long distance Nutritional Counseling using her exclusive formula for long lasting natural weight management.

Day 53 - The Ultimate Goal After Every Meal

Why do you eat? What is your ultimate goal from every meal or snack?

I know, a very simple question at first blush. When you really start thinking about it, though, you can begin to understand its depth. The answer to this question is one of the essential keys to awakening your healthy, vibrant and sexy body.

Take a moment to ask yourself what your prime motivations are for eating.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I eat to appease my body's basic needs?
• Do I eat for energy?
• Do I eat because I'm hungry?
• Do I eat to feel stuffed and full?
• Do I eat to distract myself?
• Do I eat to get temporary taste-bud pleasure?
• Do I eat to just get through the day?

All of the above illustrate one of the primary blocks to achieving long-lasting success developing a healthy relationship with food and body. Our true core reasons for eating are not reactive and surface-oriented; they are far deeper than you may realize.

What would happen if you felt like this after eating?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do I eat to feel light?
• Do I eat to feel energetic?
• Do I eat to enhance my body's pleasure throughout the day?
• Do I eat to nourish and give to my body?
• Do I eat to feel confident?
• Do I eat to care for myself?

The truth is that our ultimate goal when eating is to end up feeling better. Our prime core reason for eating is not just for energy or pleasure in the moment that we eat; it is for a prolonged experience of gratitude and positive sensation well after.

When I ate my mid-morning snack today my goal was to end up feeling light and free. I imagined my body getting nourished and feeling improved from where I began. I cut my banana up and found that half-way through (after slathering almond butter on top) I was calm, centered and light; I no longer was hungry and was at a comfortable fullness. I took the remaining snack and put it away for another time, knowing that the pleasure I derived from half would supplement the bliss of continuing my day in a body open and easy.

Next time you sit down for a meal or snack, ask yourself why you are eating; what is your ultimate goal or motivation for when you are done? Write down the intention that you have and see that by simply setting the target, your body's natural wisdom will lead the way.

To a day of long-term pleasure and ecstasy in the body!